Federal Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail has said he cannot say anything definitely about any chance of slide in the rate of the dollar against the Pakistani rupee.

He held an exclusive talk to the 24News HD TV Channel after presenting the annual budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 in the National Assembly on Friday.

On a query about any chances of decreasing the price of a dollar in the Pakistani market, Miftah categorically stated that no one can say anything definitively in this regard.

Commenting on the ambiguity about the increase of salaries as conditional, the Finance Minister clarified that the 15 per cent increase in government employees’ salaries has no link to any deal with IMF.

He said that he asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to increase the government employees’ salaries by 10 per cent only but Shahbaz Sharif and the Cabinet rejected it.

About the petrol prices, he said it depends on the international market but his government is still selling the oil at a loss. He confirmed that his government was not imposing any tax on oil prices.

Miftah said the previous government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had earmarked Rs900 billion in PSDP but had invested only Rs500 billion. And now, he added that his government has set aside Rs800 billion for PSDP that will be utilized properly.

Reporter: Awais Kiyani